the goan I network
Panaji
A second intervention filed at the Goa Human Rights Commission (GHRC) has denied that the Goa Medical College and Hospital had asked any person with disability to afix a picture in a semi-nude state for the purpose of issuing a disability certificate.
The Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG) has stepped in and written to the GHRC saying that the reply of the Dean and Medical Superintendent of the GMC is “totally false and irresponsible.”
DRAG has attached photographic evidence and alleged that “GMC is not authorized to issue any kind of disability certificate as it does not have a medical board notified by the State government,” it stated.
The second intervention plea submitted to the commission some days ago follows an intervention plea submitted to the GHRC in January by Vishant Nagvekar who has locomotor disability.
Further, the initial complainant in the case, Prakash Kundaikar, in a rejoinder submitted to the GHRC, said that when he approached the physiotherapy section of the GMC to obtain a railway concession certificate, one of the officials insisted that he submit a full body photograph in passport size and also showed him the file with certificates which had such full body photographs of other applicants / patients.The GMC had, in a written reply to the GHRC in January, denied allegations that persons with locomotor disabilities were asked to take a full body photo in a semi-naked state for photographs for their disability certificate/railway concession. The medical superintendent (MS) had nonetheless instructed doctors not to insist on such type of photographs.
In December, Kundaikar had submitted a complaint to the GHRC alleging that the GMC was asking them to affix a full body semi-naked photograph in passport size on the ‘disability certificate’, even though this is not mandated by law, and leads to
uncomfortable or embarrassing situations for the people concerned.
